243 or 7mm-08, if your looking for deer and hogs.

THe 308 matches all of those the best, plenty of power, accessibility, and lowest price of ANY normal centerfire hunting round bigger than 223

Can't go wrong with a .270....but I'd go with a .308 because you really can't go wrong there

a 7mm08, a 308 is a little cheaper to shoot and you can find ammo anywhere, but recoil is a little stronger but still less than a 270

Another vote for the 308, just about perfect for deer, hogs, and other bigger game. It can be found in a wide variety of rifles and ammo is economical and can be found most anywhere.

25-06 ALL THE WAY ive smacked ever critter in texas with it and its a great caliber

I understand the 270 and 2506 and 3006 and all are great cartridges, I have some of them too, but the commonality and price of the 308 make it best for the OP's criteria

7mm-08 140/160 the 140s are the factory stuff/ 120 get some yotes, its the best all around caliber not just for the young: if your shooting beyond 300yards. 270,280.06, 7mm just kills them. and you can shoot at the range for a while and injoy your investment. the recoil is very moderate you can make it as powerful as you desire if you get into reloading. 140s @2800 with a good bullet is pleanty speer110.thru 160 even 175 but if it can't be killed with 160, whats a 175 going to do.

I would say the .243 just for the fact that it fits all what you listed, and the fact that you can find ammo anywhere. Probably a bunch of shelves out there in some back road town with dust on the shelves that carry .243 in several different flavors.

I had a 7mm-08 and loved the round, but the ammo wasn't easy to find in a pinch especially as of last year when ammo got scarce, so I went with the old reliable .243 and haven't looked back.

.25-06 in a Tikka. Tikka is less than the 700 (dont get me wrong i have several 700's, but Tikka is as good or better than them all-just not as pretty), shoots federal premiums 3 shot groups that you can cover with a dime, killed pigs out to 300 yard and yotes out past 400, ammo is not real hard to find. My small frame wife does not complain about the recoil (20 gauge auto is uncomfortable for her). Matter of fact she kill a 120 lbs boar late yesterday afernoon with it at 65 yards then handed it to me and I killed his buddy with it at 120 yards. Both bullets went through ribs (entry and exit) and bullets were recovered just under the skin on exit side (actually her bullet seperated and we recover only the copper jacket, the lead core did exit completely).

Love my 26-06, will do it all with a great selection of ammo. But I really want a 308 barrel for my TC Pro Hunter...so I vote for both of them.

25-06